Improvement in piston-valves for fluid-meters and motors



ANo.118,392.

Patented Aug. 22,1871.

Patented Aug. 22, 1871,

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ifa? maar UNITED STATES nasca PATENT Orricn,

ALEXANDER K. RIDER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND CORNELIUS H. DELAMATER, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT lN PISTON-VALVES FOR FLUID-METERS AND MOTORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 118,392, dated August 22, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, ALEXANDER K. RIDER, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Piston-Valves for Fluid-Meters and Motors, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyingV drawing forming part of this specication, and in which- Figures l and 2 represent sectional elevations, in planes at right angles to each other, of aiiuidmeter havin g my improvement applied to it Figs. 3 and 4, longitudinal views from opposite sides of one of the piston-valves used in said meter; Fig. 5, a longitudinal view of the other piston-valve therein, Fig. 6, a horizontal section through the line w w in Fig. l 5 and Fig. 7, a view or diagram in illustration ofthe action of the piston-valves.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspon ding parts throughout the several iigures.

My invention comprises two pistons working in separate cylinders, which are arranged the one to cross and intersect the other intermediately of their length, but have their axes in different planes, and said pistons being so constructed that each one operates as its own valve to maintain its reciprocating action, and is partiall)T turned on its axis alternately in reverse direction to change the ports by the reciprocating action of the other piston, the two pistons operating alternately and intermittently, substantially as hereinafter described.

Referrin to the accompanying drawing, A and B represent two cylinders, which, together with their pistons7 may either be of the same or different diameter. These cylinders occupy transverse relations with each other, but have their axes in different planes, and are represented the one as externally crossing the other at right` angles and intermediately or centrally of their length, an opening, b, being made between the two cylinders at their intersecting portions. O D are the pistons, iitted to independently reciprocate within the cylinders A B, and of an elongated construction, so that the periphery of the one piston intersects the periphery of the other piston at the opening b, as either one piston in its reciprocating travel crosses the other. Said pistons are constructed for a portion of their sides or faces to operate as valves, in conjunction with fixed ports or passages c c d and c c d', arranged near the middle of the length of the cylinders, by means of longitudinal grooves or passages e e and c e', formed in the peripheries ofthe pistons and arranged or extended to connect with or open on opposite ends of the pistons-that is, the one groove, channel, or passage c opens in or on the one end of the piston C, and the other groove or passage e in or on the opposite end of said piston and a similar arrangement of the passages e e applies to the other piston D, so that said passages establish communication as required between opposite ends of the cylinders A B and the fixed inlet-ports d d and outlet-ports c c', which open from or. connect, respectively, with' inletspaces or chambers E E and exhaust-chambers F F. The passages c c and c c are arranged at distances apart corresponding with the dista-nce of either lixed outlet-port c or c and their intermediate inlet-port d or d', so that when the one passage e or c is in communication, during the reciprocating action of its piston, with the inletport d or d', the other of said passages is in communication with one or other of the outlet-port c or c.

The operation of these pistons is as follows: Only one of the two pistons moves in direction of the length of its cylindenat a time, and as it approaches the end of its stroke it partially turns the other piston on its axis to change the position of the passages in the latter relatively to the fixed inlet-port and one or other of the fixed outlet-ports it works in connection with. This causes the last-mentioned piston to travel for the length of its cylinder in the one direction, while the firstinentioned piston remains stationary at the end of its stroke till turned on its axis by the piston just completing its stroke, when it is set in position to commence its return stroke. This intermittent and alternate operation of the pistons is continued by either piston turning the other to the right hand at the end of one stroke and to the left hand at the termination of the other stroke, so as to change the passages e e and e c relatively to the outlets 'c c c c and inlets d d. This may be eii'ected by suitably grooving and providing the pistons atthe intersecting portions of their peripheries with keys or feathers and stops or projections. Thus the one piston C is formed with a longitudinal recess, j', at the intersecting portion of its side, and with a key or feather, g, longitudinally projecting Within said recess and said key, cut by cross-grooves or openings h h, near either end of it. The other piston D is also made, at the intersecting portion of its side, with a longitudinal recess, i, of greater length than the recess f, and having a longitudinal key or feather, 7c, in it, and heel-strips or projections l Z, in the same line as the feather 7c,

but of greater Width than it, and separated from Y the feather by cross-openings or passages m m, which latter are of a suitable width for the key g of the piston C to slide through, and the crossopenings h h of sufficient Width for the key 7c to pass through. By these means the pistons O and D arefiree'to travel longitudinally andnindependently of each other at intervals, as described, by the sliding ofthe keys g and lo alternately through either one of their respective openings or Ways m m or h h, according to which end of the stroke the piston Whose duty for the time being it is to remain stationary has reached, and accordingly, as either opposite heel or end of the recess'j' in the piston C strikes the heel-strips l Z on reverse sides, or the heel-strips l l strike alternately the opposite sides of the feather g, yare the pistons G and D turned alternately the one by the other, and alternately to the right or to the left, as regards each other, as each piston approaches the end of its stroke in either direction.

By suitably connecting the inlet-chambers E E With an inlet-pipe, and the exhaust-chambers F F With an outlet-pipe, and the operating portions With registering mechanism, the meter, to

which my improvement in piston-valves is here shown applied, is complete or ready for action.

What I here claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with two cylinders which are set 'in transverse relation With each other and with their axes in different planes, of two reciprocating pistons, constructed substantially as herein described, whereby each one operates as its own valve, but is turned on its axis by the other to reverse its alternate and intermittent reciprocating motion.

2. The arrangement, in combination with a pair of iiXed outlet-ports c o or c o and intermediateVY fixed inlet d or d', ofthe grooves or passages e e or c e in the pistons C or D, said passages leading to opposite ends of either piston, which is ar- Y Witnesses:

HENRY F. BROWN, FRED HAYNEs. 

